Couple Uses Free Credit Counseling and Eliminates $92,000 in Credit Card Debt

It would seem like everybody is in credit card debt these days. From entire countries like the US, Italy and The country of Greece, to your average American individual on the block, everyone is overextended and looking for their “bail out”. Your average American is walking around with over $15, 000 in credit card debt, but then there are the particular exceptions, such as Jerry and Sue Bailey who acquired an unbelievable $92, 000 in credit card debt. What’s much more amazing in regards to this story is that they managed to avoid bankruptcy, take total control and accountability and managed to make that $92,000 disappear. This type of thing doesn't happen at the snap of their fingers, there was no magic genie in a bottle. Just hard work and determination set this couple on the road to debt recovery. This particular massive transformation earned them acknowledgement from the largest non-profit, credit counseling accreditation organization in the US, the NFCC (National Foundation of Credit Counselors). They were honored the Client of the Year Award, the NFCC made their announcement at their annual conference in San Francisco. $92,000 in Debt Doesn’t Disappear Ove ight Mr. Jerry Bailey, an associate pastor at Grace Church in Jackson, MI, managed to keep the elephant in the closet for over 10 years. From 1992 to 2005 the Bailey's managed to amass a huge debt load. A leak roof that needed repair, two back-to-back weddings, and a series of unexpected financial expenses put Jerry in the hole. "My first clue was when the people started calling our house,” Mrs. Bailey stated. "My husband is very loving and very protective, to a fault sometimes.” The final straw was when Jerry was forced to put his daughter’s wedding reception on the credit card, and they finally decided to tally up the total damage of their credit card charges for the past 13 years and came up with a staggering $92,000. Don’t Answer That Phone; Don’t Open That Mailbox The creditors were relentless and they never stopped calling. The Bailey’s mailbox was full of bills, and charge card statements. Nobody in their home answered the phone without first checking the caller ID, and if the phone call was from a creditor they would forward it straight to voice mail. Walking to the mailbox was a source of anxiety and stress because they knew what awaited them, a pile of credit card bills. In 2005 they reached out to their credit union for some guidance, they had a little over $92, 000 in credit card debt distributed across SEVENTEEN credit cards+. The bank viewed their particular dire financial predicament, shrugged his shoulders and recommended that they file bankruptcy. This went against the Bailey’s principals and were firm believers that paying what they owed was the right thing to do. When they affirmed that bankruptcy would not be an option for them, the banker gave them a number for a non-profit credit counseling agency that was based out of Michigan in hopes that they could offer viable alte atives to bankruptcy. Non-profit credit counseling agencies have been around for over fifty years; their goal has been to help spread financial literacy and help consumers with their credit card debt. They also are generally experts at the skill of negotiation with credit card companies, and utilize a DMP (debt management plan) as an instrument to lower rates of interest, waive service fees and eliminate the overall debt burden for their clients. That isn't “debt settlement”, which happens to be completely different process all together, which often can end up damaging individuals in the end. Credit counseling and the DMP, for many individuals, is simply the best way to get rid of debt having little if any impact on your overall credit rating. The Bailey’s difficulties didn’t disappear ove ight, it took a lot of hard work, perseverance, determination and 5 ½ yrs to be able to ultimately purge themselves of their personal credit card debt. Today the Bailey’s happen to be savoring their own debt free life, long gone are the nights of evading phone calls and their mail. Today the Bailey’s can altogether recognize the importance of savings in addition to establishing some sort of fiscal safety net for rainy days and nights. The NFCC most recently released a poll that claimed that merely 35% of individuals in America had a $1,000 unexpected emergency expense bank account, consequently there are many individuals in existence are barely surviving check to check, or possibly using their credit cards to cover their bills. The main thing that they come to understand from this complete financial fiasco was the significance of a savings account. 20/20 hindsight conveys to these people that if they would have saved just a little money every month they would have been less depended on their credit cards. The Baileys’ wish that they could of prevented their financial catastrophe to begin with. “We would tear up those credit cards, " Sue Bailey says.